Face the Pain
by Strawberry-Slayer
Summary: Basically a "what-if" scenario involving the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". And the rating is purely for language.


A/N: Look, flame me if you want, this is totally Mary Sue, but that's why it's under the marching band misc., rather than _Buffy_. Because if it hadn't been for marching band, my life would have turned out _way_ different than it is now, and this story, for one, would never have been written. Plus, it deals more with band and problems because of than _BTVS_.

* * *

I stared up at the handsome, green-eyed Brit. I looked to the pretty redhead next to him. What were these people on? Vampires? Yeah, right! I mean, I would know! Ever since I was little, I'd loved stories of ghosts, vampires, and other "scary" beings.

"Miss Evans, please, allow me to explain," Mr. Giles begged of me.

"Look, sir, love the accent, I do. But I'm not buying your story. This may be New Orleans, but that doesn't mean we all believe in vampires," I advised. I attempted to close my front door.

"Jessica, please," Willow pleaded. "Just let us come in. There's a lot we need to talk to you about."

"Fine, come in." I opened the door and allowed them entry into my tiny apartment.

"You're a potential vampire slayer, Jessica," Giles said. "In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer." The dude was wacked.

"You're nuts, Mr. Giles. Vampire slayer? Me"

"Well, actually, you aren't the only one," Willow spoke up. "There are a lot more ." She explained about the Sunnydale, California hellmouth and the recent happenings there. They needed me to go back to Sunnydale with them, to help take care of the problem with the hellmouth. Then she started talking about my hometown, Fort Wayne, Indiana. "So there are literally hundreds, even thousands, perhaps, of potential slayers. And you're one of them."

"You've got to be kidding me," I said dubiously. Willow shook her head. "And now you're telling me that my sacred duty is to go with you guys and help stop the end of the world." Giles and Willow nodded. "Words, people. Speak to me."

"The hellmouth will open before long." Giles leaned forward in his chair.

"The city's going to be a crater in the ground? That's what you're saying?"

"You're the only potential left nearby, Jessica. We need you." Willow glanced out the window and back to me. "I believe you met Xander and Andrew earlier. Along with a couple other potentials "

"Bridget and Colleen," I finished. "I hate to admit it, on the off-chance that you guys are right...look, I felt something weird about those two. Nothing from Xander or Andrew. Okay." I heaved a sigh. "Say you've convinced me. Now what?"

Apparently "now what" meant packing up and heading out with Rupert Giles and Willow Rosenberg, then meeting the others in Sunnydale. The others included Xander Harris, Andrew Wells, Dawn Summers, vampire slayers Buffy Summers and Faith, potential vampire slayers Bridget, Colleen, Rona, Kennedy, Vi, Molly, Chloe, Shannon, Amanda, Chao-Ahn, and Caridad, vengeance demon Anya Jenkins, and vampire with a soul, Spike. And the rest of what happened in Sunnydale is history. Willow did some magick, made all of us potentials into real vampire slayers, and we managed to close the hellmouth. For good.

By the time we got to Fort Wayne, most of the city had cleared out. I didn't have any worries about family or close friends. My mom had moved to Ohio after I'd moved to New Orleans. My older brother lived in Indianapolis. My dad had lived in Anderson, Indiana since my junior year of college. I'd enlisted his help in convincing my grandparents and aunt and uncle to leave town for awhile. Most of my friends lived in outlying areas or had tuned into the city enough to gather they needed to leave. Earthquakes had been rocking the area. Giles attributed this to the hellmouth. Schools were closed indefinitely, starting just this week. So why were we going? To shut it all down and keep the hellions where they belonged.

We traveled on the highway, a large caravan of cars and vans. We ended up staying at a hotel, the Marriot, less than two miles from my childhood home. I went out in my own car, drove around my old neighborhood, then ended up at my alma mater. The parking lot was deserted; the band tower stood empty. I walked out to the practice field at the back of the lot.

So many memories. Thousands upon thousands of moments I had spent out here. According to Giles, in a week, this place would probably no longer exist. The thought was staggering. I stared up into the overcast sky. It was getting dark. The street lights began to come on and I noticed lights on in the school as well.I decided to head inside. Before I could, however, movement caught my eye.

"Jessica," a familiar voice called. My eyes narrowed. If that was who I thought it was, I wanted out of here. Now. A figure emerged from the shadows of the band tower. "It _is_ you."

And it was him. The one person I didn't want to see here. The one person I didn't want to see at all. But who would have thought it'd be him choosing to speak with me first?

"Hi, Kyle. Long time, no see." I walked over to my former best friend and boyfriend. Definitely not with whom I wanted to spend my last trip down memory lane. I sighed.

"And obviously not very happy to see me," he commented. "Come on, I was just about to go inside, look around the band room one last time. I have to, uh, pick up my sax. I left it here."

"I take it you're on staff for the season, then." We went to the band doors. Kyle used his keys to unlock them. We stood in the back room.

"Damn. Still as messy as ever," I said. "Still the same odd smell." I wrinkled my nose. Smelled like sweat and rain, papers and metal. I walked to my old locker, where I'd kept my mellophone junior and senior years. I felt weird around Kyle. And from my time in Sunnydale, I'd learned that feeling the kind of weird vibes I was getting from Kyle Lewis, my former friend was a vampire. My bag held a couple of stakes.

"So, did you come back to town for District?" he asked. I glanced back at him, on edge. I wasn't afraid, but my pulse was racing anyway. It was an automatic response to seeing him. Ever since I graduated, hell, even that second semester of senior year, seeing any of the old gang set my adrenaline pumping. Back then, all I'd had to rely on was my sharp wit and quick tongue. And a well-placed cellular telephone call to my mother. The product of those calls was a pass for me to leave school. Happened on more than one occasion, always after an encounter with Kyle, Rachel, Jake, and/or Leah. It was a given back then.

"District? Oh, no. I mean, I'm only here for a, uh...an emergency. One of my friends." I thought fast. "You remember Shannon, right?"

Kyle made a face.

"Yeah, I remember her. That bitchy drum major."

"Yep, that's her. Not so much a bitch, though. She hated you, too. Shay always has had good taste," I responded dryly, not liking my former best friend insulting my current best friend.

"And the gloves are off," Kyle replied, smirking. "Wondered how long it would take you. From what Jake says, you've got years of pent-up anger bubbling inside. Go on, let it out."

"Gloves off, gauntlets thrown, yada yada yada." I pretended to yawn. "Oh, gee, look at the time. I better get back to my hotel."

"Hotels in this area are still open?" Kyle seemed genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, the Marriott nearby is. Amazingly enough. Staying there with friends. Hey, you know, it's been years and we should catch up. Why don't you come on back with me?" I wasn't sure if I had the strength to stake him. But if Kyle came back to the hotel with me, then Buffy, Faith, or any number of others could easily do it for me.

"Still wanting me after all this time?" Kyle said. "It's kind of pathetic. I mean, I got that letter you sent a couple years back. How long did it take you and your therapist to write that one up?"

Screw the other slayers. Kyle had to be staked? Then I was going to do it. Consider it unfinished business left over from high school. I narrowed my eyes.

"No time at all, sweetie. I wrote it, wasn't going to send it. Shannon was the one that actually sent it off."

"Shannon again. What, after me you turned into a lesbian?"

"You'd like that," I tossed back. I strode into the band room. I heard him follow me. I sat in the director's chair, still the same one Ashton had used for so many years. "Nope. She got married last year."

"And you?"

"None of your business, really. Dated a couple guys when I was at Purdue with y'all."

"Noticed you were only there for a semester. Angie said you couldn't take the pressure and failed out."

"Angie says a lot of things, I'm sure." I shrugged, not really caring. "I did fail out. No big."

Kyle sighed. And I grew suspicious. He was a vampire. I knew it. The vibes I was getting from him...Buffy called it her "spidey-sense". Mine was tingling majorly.

"You know -"

"Why didn't you ever speak up?" I asked suddenly. I had to know. There were things...so much left unsaid. My heart pounded. I was terrified. Not of Kyle, the vampire, but Kyle. Kyle, who once had meant so much to me. "Why did you let everything just fade away?"

"Because you lied," Kyle replied softly. He stared at me, stood in the middle of the flute section.

"You weren't there. I was. I told my story, the truth. And I won't keep defending it. You didn't believe me back then, you won't believe me any more now." I shrugged. "I'm tired. Four years and I'm still so tired."

"Four years and you've obviously learned nothing."

"What do you mean?" I asked, wondering where he was going with this.

"You're still trying to appeal to me. To get me to listen to you. Won't work. And I really don't want to hurt you..."

"Hurt me?" I feigned confusion, though I now knew exactly what he was getting at.

"I -"

"Because, you know, I managed to dig the knife out of my back a long time ago. The knife that, coincidentally, you stuck there." I rolled my shoulders back. "I really don't fancy having that done again." I hopped off the chair and faced Kyle.

"I've changed a lot since we graduated."

"That's an understatement. Kyle, just spit it out, okay?" I gave him a bored look and crossed my arms. I put one hand into my bag and felt for a stake. I kept my fist around it. "You don't want to listen to me whine. I was a bitch, a slut, a liar. I ruined everything. I didn't conform to your ideals of the perfect marching band senior. Big wah. Come on, let's get on with this."

"Get on with what?" Kyle appeared interested, though. He was hooked. One of us wasn't getting out of this room alive; I knew that now. I picked Kyle to die. Because, in reality, he already was dead. His body played host to a demon now. A demon that had access to all his memories and mannerisms, but a demon nonetheless. If you asked me, the big switch really wasn't all that huge of a change.

"Look, District was supposed to be this weekend. What, you were meeting up with everyone? In town from Purdue early? Or did someone catch up with you in Lafayette, show you a little too good of a time?"

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously. His formerly beautiful green eyes started glowing a feral yellow. I stared up at him and moved closer.

"You-your eyes, Kyle. They're ye-yellow. Glowing. What's happening?" I made myself sound scared. In reality, I was already trembling. I knew what I had to do.

"I'm bored," he replied and quickly vamped out. I screamed for good measure. I attempted to run. He caught me and dragged me to the ground. I grabbed the director's stand and hit him with it. Kyle shook his head, hard, and I was able to seek higher ground, in the third tier of chairs, the trumpet section. Kyle came crashing after me, throwing chairs and stands out of his way.

I giggled as a thought struck me.

"You know, even our old director didn't look that possessed when he was pissed," I remarked. My light-hearted comment threw him. Kyle's eyes narrowed and he kept coming at me. "Eek" I jumped backward. Kyle reached me and tossed me back against the instrument lockers right outside the band office. Ow!

"Ow! That was rude! Jessica is damage-able, remember?" Kyle's only response was a loud growl as he yanked my hair out of the way of my neck.

"This will be a treat. Kind of...fitting, don't you think" he hissed. "Help me out here, Blondie."

"Hey, genius, check the hair color. I'm a brunette now."

"Old habits," he smirked.

"Die hard," I finished for him. "Speaking of which..." I brought my knee up into Kyle's groin while punching him in the face. "Don't you remember anything from high school, Kyle?" Kyle glared at me, but attacked again. We tussled some more before I finished what I'd been saying. "I fight back, you bastard. No matter what you people did or said, I kept right on with my life. You never got me down. You may be all supernatural bad-ass right now, honey, but it ain't just you."

He spat blood on the floor from where his lip was now bleeding.

"What are you talking about, Jessica?"

"Cool the fighting for a sec, 'kay?" He backed off, curious. "Who sired you?"

"Some chick from Purdue. You wouldn't know her."

"Obviously not a sorority girl. No self-respecting Greek would ever touch the likes of you." I shook my head. "I digress. Anyway, how long ago was that?"

"Not long, obviously. I'm still on staff here. Last weekend."

"Oh, goody! A fledgling!" I clapped my hands. "Look, you're not Kyle. I've thought you cold, callous, and heartless for years, and I was probably right. The good thing is, though, that you literally do still have a heart. Which works perfectly for me."

"Meaning...?"

"Did your sire happen to mention anything about California? About Sunnydale? Hellmouths?"

"Leah, no, not that Leah, she said something about a slayer. That she was out in California, so the Midwest was safe from her."

"Ooh, sorry, that's the wrong answer. You see," I explained, "there's not just one slayer. There are hundreds of slayers, brought about by the hellmouth closing back in Sunnydale. One of my new friends did a little spell and, bam. World-wide slayerage. Pretty damn cool, let me tell you."

"How do you know all this?"

"Well," I said, advancing on Kyle, "I know because I was there. In Sunnydale. On vacation, you could say, from New Orleans."

"You were at the hellmouth? When it closed?"

"Uh, yeah, pretty much. Helped close it. Want to know why?"

"Not particularly," Kyle shot back and attacked. He pushed me to the ground. I jumped back on my feet, ready in a fighting stance. "Don't you give up?"

"Dude, we just went over this," I exclaimed. I kicked out and knocked Kyle's feet from under him. "No, I don't give up." I jumped on top of Kyle, my knees on either side of his torso. "It's time that you did, Kyle. We used to be good friends."

He struggled underneath me.

"Used to. Past tense, you bitch. Get up!" He started to throw me off. I cuffed Kyle upside the head and he fell back down. I regained my position. I grabbed a stake from my pocket and twirled it.

"I think it's also time that you find out exactly how a knife in the back feels. But since you're flat on your back and I've no knife, we'll have to settle for a stake through the heart. Here's hoping Satan has marshmallows for you!" I raised the stake.

"Jessica, wait!" Kyle appealed. His face was back to normal; his brown eyes pleaded with me. I froze, cursing myself. Why? Why was I still willing to listen to him? "Jessica, please, wait, we can talk. I just...I can't help it. I feel so badly for everything..."

"Jessica, he is not your friend anymore," a voice said from the doorway. I glanced up. Kyle remained still under me. It was Buffy. Xander stood next to her.

"Jess, listen to Buffy. She knows what she's talking about. You know that. You can feel it," Xander implored. Kyle threw me off at that moment. Buffy charged. I flung my arm out to stop the other slayer.

"No! Buffy, don't!" I shouted.

"Jessica! Get out of her way! Let Buffy take care of it," Xander instructed.

Kyle backed up against the lockers, his eyes shifting from Buffy to me to the back room doors. Buffy took a step toward him. I rushed at her and shoved Buffy out of the way.

"Buffy, no." I stood in front of Kyle, shielding him from Buffy and Xander. "No. I won't let you stake him."

"See? Blondie, I knew you had it in you." I could hear the grin in Kyle's voice. I spun around to face him.

"I said I wouldn't let her stake you, Kyle. I never said anything about me." I leapt forward and plunged the stake into his heart. My former love crumbled into dust. Tears slid down my face as I turned to Xander. I helped Buffy off the floor.

"I'm sorry, Buff. I just...I had to..."

"I understand, Jessica." She hugged me. Xander put his arms around both of us. "It's okay. It'll be okay."

"I felt that stake, Buffy. I felt it go straight through him, into his heart...into my heart." I cried harder.

"Shh," Xander said. "It's over now."

"It is, isn't it? Four years. It's over now." I looked up at Buffy and Xander as a smile spread on my face. "Kyle...the pain...he died. But I faced the pain...and won."


End file.
